The Final Destination horror franchise has endured for over a decade by relying on a simple, repeatable premise, in which a group of attractive young people attempt to outrun death’s reach … and fail, miserably. The actors hired to perish in gruesome, sometimes hilarious ways are usually unknowns, fresh faces eager to add a new credit to their relatively thin CVs. Death – Final Destination’s version of it, at least – doesn’t care if you’re famous.
The series’ latest chapter, Final Destination 5, tweaks the formula a bit by introducing a few more recognizable names into the mix, including two established comic actors, David Koechner and P.J. Byrne, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent veteran Courtney B. Vance. Emma Bell, who plays the female lead, recently did a memorable stint on the smash zombie series The Walking Dead; her co-star, Nicholas D’Agosto, had a major role in From Prada to Nada. (Okay, that last one was stretching it a bit.) Candyman star Tony Todd, the actor most associated with the FD franchise, returns to the fold after skipping the previous film, 2009’s The Final Destination – perhaps not his decision, but a serendipitous one nonetheless.
We recently sat down with Todd, Bell, and the rest of the stars of Final Destination 5 to find out what scares them, what it’s like to see yourself killed in 3D, and whose death was the most excruciating:
(Note: These interviews include a few spoilers, which aren’t really spoilers to anyone vaguely familiar with the FD films.)
Miles Fisher, Ellen Wroe, and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood
P.J. Byrne, Courtney B. Vance, and Arlen Escarpeta
Tony Todd, Emma Bell, and Nicholas D'Agosto